


Lost in Translation

by Blizzard_Fire



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Adorable Bruce Banner, Bruce Banner-centric, Domestic Avengers, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Italian Bruce Banner, Italian Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:28:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26204203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blizzard_Fire/pseuds/Blizzard_Fire
Summary: Nearly twenty minutes later, Bruce stops mid-sentence, stares at Tony in shock and smacks a hand to his forehead. ‘Oh my god… how long have we been speaking Italian?’‘Nineteen minutes and forty-five seconds, Doctor,’says JARVIS.Tony shrugs. ‘Didn’t wanna interrupt your flow. You’re full of surprises, green bean.’He looks embarrassed. ‘I think we should go to bed.’‘Sì.’Sometimes, Bruce slips into his native Italian. Luckily, his teammates also speak the language. Mostly.
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Avengers Team, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark
Comments: 19
Kudos: 256





	Lost in Translation

**Author's Note:**

> I have a little headcanon that Bruce's mum is Italian. We were discussing this on the Bruce Banner chat on Tumblr and it evolved into this whole fic idea - huge credit to @danya-is-an-idiot who came up with the majority of the plot points for this thing! Also yay this is my 40th fic on AO3 :D
> 
> (This fic was brought to you by Google Translate so I apologise if it's a bad translation!)

The first time it happens, they’re in the midst of a twenty-hour science binge.

‘It’s a terrible idea,’ Bruce insists.

‘It’s an _amazing_ idea!’ Tony points at a screen full of blueprints. ‘Coffee, wherever you go. You’re stranded in the desert and need your caffeine fix? Boom. Flying coffee maker.’

Bruce squints at the screen. ‘If I was stranded in the desert, coffee would be the last thing on my mind. And the engines are far too big.’ They’re both slumped on lab stools, surrounded by empty mugs and cold takeout boxes and slightly delirious from lack of sleep. ‘You’re doing it all wrong.’

‘Okay Banner, _you_ do it better. Come on. _You_ design a coffee maker than can travel thousands of miles and still fit in your carry-on luggage.’

‘It’s all in the physics. You need to make it lighter so there’s less drag and a higher maximum – uh – ‘ He waves a hand ineffectually. ‘Maximum – maximum velocità. Quel motore è inefficiente. Comprendere? Lascia che ti mostri sullo schermo...’

Tony blinks at him. ‘What?’

But Bruce has dragged the screen over and is busily sketching out a new blueprint, apparently unaware of what just happened. And Tony might be sleep-deprived, but he definitely didn’t just imagine that.

Even more bizarrely, Bruce _continues_ speaking in Italian. It’s like someone pressed a translation button inside his head. But Tony takes it in his stride, asking questions and pointing out the flaws in this new blueprint (it’s great having a fellow genius to bounce ideas off).

Nearly twenty minutes later, Bruce stops mid-sentence, stares at Tony in shock and smacks a hand to his forehead. ‘Oh my god… how long have we been speaking Italian?’

 _‘Nineteen minutes and forty-five seconds, Doctor,’_ says JARVIS.

Tony shrugs. ‘Didn’t wanna interrupt your flow. You’re full of surprises, green bean.’

He looks embarrassed. ‘I think we should go to bed.’

‘Sì.’

Two weeks later, it happens again. Bruce is post-Hulk and frazzled, but they’ve got to synthesise this antidote or hundreds of New Yorkers are going to die. His hands shake and he’s clearly struggling to stay conscious, and when Tony asks a question he responds in Italian.

‘Really, Banner?’ says Tony.

He winces. ‘I’m sorry, it’s – it’s quicker. Can’t think straight right now.’

‘Okay, let’s do it your way.’ So Tony switches over, pointing out the issues in their formulae.

Bruce looks so unspeakably thankful that he’s on the verge of tears, but he holds it together and they finish the antidote just in time.

From then on, Bruce slips into it whenever he’s overtired or addled after a transformation. It usually starts when he forgets a word in English. The famous Doctor Banner has the IQ of a planet, but sometimes he forgets the word for “spoon”. After months of tiptoeing around the tower, it’s nice to see him relaxed enough to let his guard down, even if it’s only around Tony.

In his written notes, Bruce switches relentlessly between English and Italian, often within the same sentence, too desperate to get words down to care. Since JARVIS is programmed to digitise all their work, it's his job to decipher the fevered scribblings. Tony suspects it drives the poor AI crazy, but he's far too polite to complain.

‘You’re really good,’ Bruce says one evening, as Tony corrects an error in his Englitalian scribblings. ‘Where did you learn?’

‘Mom was descended from Italian immigrants. She was very proud.’ He flicks the screen back over. ‘You?’

‘Yeah, my mom too.’ Bruce smiles softly as he looks over their findings. ‘Whenever Dad wasn’t around, she spoke it all the time. It became like a secret language between us.’ He sighs. ‘But… well, Dad didn’t like it. The school bullies didn’t like it. And then Mom died, so…’ He shrugs in a “what can you do” kind of way. It’s kind of heart-breaking, actually.

‘Should have guessed. Never seen a guy get so heated about how to correctly make lasagne.’

That causes a small smile. ‘Exhaustion tends to knock my barriers down. I don’t always know when I’m doing it. Stop me if it gets annoying.’

‘Sure,’ says Tony, and does no such thing.

Interestingly, Bruce only seems to do it in the lab. Perhaps that’s where he feels most comfortable being himself; his shoulders unhunch, his eyes brighten and on good days, he goes into full gesticulating science professor mode. It’s almost like looking at a different person, and that enthusiasm is infectious.

That’s another thing about Bruce. He's not a big talker, and doesn't take up centre stage for longer than he needs to. But over time he's gotten more comfortable, and if one picks the right subject sometimes he really gets going.

It’s the morning after a particularly strenuous battle, and Tony is sitting at the breakfast table with his head in his hands when his science bro pads into the kitchen, still looking exhausted. Bruce makes it about three sentences after "good morning Tony" before he slips up and starts grumbling in Italian instead.

And Tony is tired and hasn’t had his coffee yet so he starts responding in Italian and neither of them notice. After agreeing that yesterday’s fight sucked, the conversation turns to matters in the lab. Bruce is working on a drought-resistant strain of rice, and he has high hopes that the project will be complete by the end of the year.

By the time Thor walks in Bruce is in full scientist mode, tiredness apparently forgotten in favour of rice and chromosomes. Thor makes himself a plate of Pop-Tarts and sits down beside Tony. Nobody realises that _Thor_ starts speaking Italian too – not even Thor. Thanks to the Allspeak he can speak and understand any language, and whilst Asgard perfected crop engineering millennia ago, he listens to Bruce with interest and even makes some helpful suggestions.

Natasha joins them sometime later to find Bruce still rambling excitedly in Italian, gesturing to illustrate a point, whilst Tony and Thor nod attentively across from him. It's hardly the weirdest thing to happen in the tower, so Nat calls _buongiorno_ and makes herself some toast.

Steve is the last one down to breakfast. He strides into the kitchen and opens his mouth to say good morning, then he frowns. Bruce, Thor and Tony are having an excited debate, but he can’t understand any of the words. As he stands there in bemusement, JARVIS chimes in with a response in the same language.

Bemused, he turns to the couch at the far end of the kitchen. ‘Hey, Clint? Any idea what’s going on here?’

Clint was actually the first one up, and he’s been sitting here ever since Tony came in. But he’s been playing games on his phone the whole time and his hearing aids lie forgotten in his lap. Clearly, he’s not going to be any help. He doesn’t even look up when Steve calls his name.

Natasha is clearing away the plates, so he goes up to her. ‘Did I miss something?’

She looks up at him, shrugs and smiles. ‘Meni podobayetʹsya vasha roz hublenist.’

The serum makes him immune to most things, but for a moment Steve seriously wonders if he’s having a stroke. ‘Wh- what language was _that?’_ he asks as she walks away.

 _‘Ukrainian, Captain,’_ JARVIS informs him helpfully.

And now Steve is _really_ confused. He walks back over to Clint and taps him on the shoulder to get his attention. Steve has been diligently learning sign language to better accommodate Clint but he's still struggling to learn. And he's not quite sure how to articulate "why the hell is everyone speaking Italian?"

Clint stares patiently. Steve manages to sign "help".

With a sigh, Clint puts his hearing aids back in. ‘What can I do ya for, Cap?’

Helplessly, Steve gestures towards the kitchen table, where Thor is asking Bruce a question in fluent Italian.

Clint listens for a long moment, eyes wide, then takes out one of his hearing aids and stares at it in confusion. ‘It’s never done that before.’

‘No, you’re hearing correctly, everyone’s speaking Italian.’

‘Oh. Phew! Uh, why?’

‘I have absolutely no idea.’ The two of them stare in bemusement at their fellow Avengers. Natasha is listening along with a strangely knowing smile. Thor is so intrigued by the conversation that his Pop-Tarts lie cold and uneaten on his plate. Tony is clearly fighting sleep but paying close attention all the same.

And in the centre of it all is Bruce, talking a mile a minute and completely in his element. He looks relaxed and happy, surrounded by an intrigued, loving audience. Steve has never seen him so unguarded before and finds himself smiling despite his confusion.

Bruce notices him hovering. ‘Ciao Steve, come ti senti?’ he asks.

Steve blinks back at him. ‘Sorry Bruce, I don’t understand.’

For a moment, Bruce just stares. Then he blinks and looks around, as if waking from a dream. ‘Oh. Was I – _oh._ Oh shit.’

Tony looks similarly surprised. ‘When did that happen?’

_‘Almost as soon as Doctor Banner entered the kitchen, sir.’_

Bruce deflates in embarrassment. He hunches back in on himself and clasps his hands together, one thumb brushing over his knuckles. ‘I didn’t even realise...’

Tony turns to Thor. ‘Since when do _you_ speak Italian?’

‘I speak all languages, thanks to the Allspeak.’ Thor picks up a cold Pop-Tart and takes a bite. ‘I was not aware we were conversing in a different language.’

Bruce looks intensely embarrassed. Steve feels like he interrupted something private. ‘Hey, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. I didn’t even know you spoke Italian.’

‘I did,’ Natasha pipes up. ‘He swears in it when he thinks no one’s around.’

Clint laughs. ‘I only caught the end of it. Something about rice?’

Bruce looks up at them all. For years, he’s been conditioned to feel that it’s something he has to hide. Tony is the first person to converse with him in Italian since his mother died. But now… ‘It doesn’t bother you?’ he asks cautiously.

Tony pats him on the shoulder. ‘Brucie, I’ve gotten so used to you that I didn’t even realise.’

‘Why would it bother us?’ says Clint. ‘Nat goes full Russian mode sometimes. JARVIS has to help me translate sometimes but it’s no biggie. It’s nice to hear you get excited about something.’

It took Bruce several months to settle down here; he’s used to treading carefully, not taking up too much space, not staying in one place for too long. But now, as he looks around the room and finds only warm, understanding smiles, he feels _at home._ He stares down at his empty mug of tea as tears spring to his eyes. ’Thanks,’ he whispers.

Steve sits down at the table. ‘So, what was the question you asked me earlier?’

‘I asked how you were feeling after yesterday.’

‘Oh. I’m fine.’ Steve makes a mental note to ask JARVIS for some language lessons later. Anything that makes Bruce light up like that is worth learning. ‘So, what’s so interesting about rice?’

As Bruce tells Steve and Clint about his latest science project, the others exchange pleased looks. They all come from vastly different backgrounds, but fate threw them all together and somehow they make it work.

Between them, they speak dozens of languages (infinite ones, in Thor’s case). But as Bruce looks around the kitchen at the strange mix of people who are now his friends, he decides that some things are universal.

**Author's Note:**

> Natasha actually says "Мені подобається ваша розгубленість", which translates to "I enjoy your confusion". She's just in it for shits and giggles.


End file.
